BPS Visual and Performing Arts

  In our first BPS Arts blog post, we are featuring our 39th Annual  MLK Celebration. Across the district, thousands of students were involved in honoring MLK with his words, “ Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” With love and light guiding practitioners, students designed our first-ever virtual MLK Celebration. Framing it as Q&A, practitioners shed some “light” on how they created these displays of “ love.” Julie White, Trotter School Theatre Teacher Why did you and/or students choose what you submitted? We brainstormed a theme and so many students thought the same thing, “How can we show Kindness during a time in the world that lacks it.”  We decided to take an excerpt from a play we will present in late March called "Make A Difference". It fit perfectly.     Describe the learning process of the work you submitted? As a student body each week students watch, write and reflect on yo...

Over 165 BPS students performed with the world-class Boston Pops Orchestra on Friday, December 6th at Symphony Hall. This was part of a rewarding collaboration between the Boston Symphony Education & Engagement Office and the Boston Public Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department. Five choirs were selected from various grade levels representing students that may have had little exposure with going to Symphony Hall, nonetheless performing with the Boston Pops. The choirs includes students from The Boston Arts Academy, Chittick Elementary School, Donald M. McKay K8 School, Orchard Gardens K8 School, and the Rafael Hernández K8 School. The BPS music educators began rehearsing the piece “Let There Be Peace on Earth” with their students in October. Then over the course of two days, a film and audio crew visited each of the schools to record the students singing. They were directed by their music teachers and were assisted with Dennis Alves, Director of Artistic Planning for t...

The 60-Second Pitch with Aéro Film Owner Lance O’Connor Today our students received inside information on career readiness, punctuality and public speaking from Aéro Productions owner and Executive Producer Lance O'Connor. Being on time is such an important part of working in this industry.  He gave the example that if everyone is going on a bus to a meeting and you know the bus is running late, jump in a taxi and be the first to be seated at the meeting.  This will make a huge statement that you care and it will be memorable to those in charge.   What you wear is important so think about what statement you are making when entering an interview or a meeting to pitch your project.  You never know who you are going to meet and you do not get a second chance on a first impression.   Each opportunity of meeting people should be treated as an audition.  Mr. O'Connor spent a lot of energy helping students realize that they need to be r...

Music Videos and TV Promos with Trudy Bellinger Trudy Bellinger graced our students with her journey of working her way to become one of the most successful music video directors and producers of all time.  You can read her full biography on her website http://www.trudybellinger.com .  Ms. Bellinger explained the generational shifts and the current landscape of music videos, tv promos, and commercials.  You may have seen some of her latest work with TV promos for ABC's Scandal, Project Runway, Next Top Model and The Bachelorette. Ms. Bellinger explained the differences between commercials, tv promos, and music videos.  Regular commercials are a big part of the industry but an ad agency has already created the idea/storyboard, and as directors you pitch for the job.  TV promos on the other hand, are somewhat in the middle where you as a director get a little more freedom and creative input.   East Boston High School student Juan Arias e...

Blog post by Alyanna Torres, Film Student at The English High School  Star Ellen DeGeneres strikes a smile as the Boston students yell hello to  her at the  Warner Brothers Studios.  Fox Studio Tour and Film Music Masterclass  Today we did a lot of fun things. First the Boston group got breakfast and then boarded the Coach bus to pick up the CineMagic crew from Ireland. We made our way to Fox Studios where we saw the film studios for shows like The Simpsons and the Big Bang Theory along with iconic statues like one from the movie Napoleon Dynamite . We had a film masterclass with a Fox executive. Here we learned about how music is created for film along with the copyrighting process. After the masterclass we got to watch the entire film X-Men: Dark Phoenix and discuss how the music impacted scenes from the movie. Pictured left is The English High School film student Nyavah Holder asking an executive about her journey to her current po...

BPS Film Students Take On L.A.!   BPS film students with CineMagic CEO Joan Burney Keatings and Actor Colin Farrell Eight Design and Media Pathways from East Boston High School and The English High School traveled to Los Angeles, California to take part in a one-week high school film festival with the non-profit organization CineMagic of Belfast, Northern Ireland. These same students created a short film last fall with the help of CineMagic through a partnership with the Mayor’s Office of International Partnerships.  Participating students from the Boston Public Schools will be collaborating with other film students from both Belfast, Northern Ireland and L.A. Film Producing Masterclass with Sean Barney Renowned producer Sean Barney presented a two-hour workshop on the art of producing commercials. Mr. Barney also produces short films but loves the change of pace of commercials, especially ones for the Super Bowl.  Mr. Barney went over all asp...

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit music organization, recently donated over $80,000 worth of musical instruments and supplies to two lucky Boston public schools— the Margarita Muniz Academy and the Orchard Gardens K-8 School. Since 1996, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation has been donating instruments to deserving, under-funded music programs and has been providing various support services to school districts around the country. The selection process for these donations is very thorough, and applications are by invitation only and are based on the financial need of schools. One of the qualifying Boston schools, The Margarita Muniz Academy, located in Jamaica Plain, opened in 2012 and has since developed an El Sistema-inspired arts program. El Sistema is a publically funded music-education program and movement that began in Venezuela in the 70s. The goal of the program is to use music as a vehicle for social change. “The program is totally barrier-free,” said Rebec...